International Day Of Action against the WTO And Free Trade Agreements

It has been twenty-one years since the World Trade Organization’s imperialist, neoliberal and neo-colonial free trade policies led to the sacrifice of one of our peasant leaders at the gates of the Ministerial meeting venue in Cancun, Mexico. Lee Kyung Hae, a small-scale farmer from Korea, took the drastic step of sacrificing himself to protest against the dire situation that thousands of peasants found themselves in after their country embraced the WTO’s free trade policies. In his final moments, he wore a banner around his neck with the words “WTO Kills Farmers.”

Lee’s sacrifice brought to the spotlight the plight of all peasants everywhere; the hyper-globalization of the 80s and 90s had a devastating impact on rural communities worldwide, stripping them of their land, livelihoods, and local markets. Lee Kyung Hae gave his life to voice the concerns of millions of peasants like him, who saw their lives upended as their countries opened up under the banner of market reforms, only to be overwhelmed by fierce international competition from affluent nations flooding their markets with cheap imports, often produced in massive factories and large-scale industrial farms. The WTO spearheaded these efforts to expand and find new markets for transnational corporations and agribusinesses centered in the wealthy cities of the global north.

Every year, on the 10th of September – the day that Lee sacrificed his life, we mark it with solidarity actions and mobilizations against WTO and Free Trade Agreements. Read the call to action and download the communications kit here.

This post is also available in Español and Français.